HICKORY, N.C. -- The Lenoir-Rhyne men's basketball team clinched a bid in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a home victory over Wingate on Senior Night inside Shuford Arena. The Bears entered the game needing a win to clinch the 8-seed and they knocked off conference-leading Wingate by double digits. The loss drops Wingate into a 3-way tie for first place. 

A balanced offense led LR with Tim Steele leading the way with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from long range. Nas Tyson, Jaquias Franklin and Cooper Fowler all had 11 each for LR. 

GAME INFORMATION:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 93, Wingate 80
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (15-13, 10-10 SAC), Wingate (20-7, 15-4 SAC)
Location: Hickory, N.C. | Shuford Arena

STATS OF THE GAME:

• Each team came out firing to start as the high-scoring first half saw the teams combine for 90 points.
• Wingate took a narrow 46-44 edge into the break. The Bears shot 51.4 percent from the field while Wingate connected on just over 56 percent.
• Jaheim Taylor's fast break bucket made it 54-52 in favor of LR with 14:54 to play and the Bears would never trail the rest of the way.
• Wingate pulled even on a couple of occasions but the Bears had the answer each time.
• With the Bears up 76-73 with over five minutes to play, LR sealed the win with a perfectly timed 10-0 run.
• Fowler had an and-one and Steele buried a triple in the run that put the Bears up 13 with 2:58 to play.
• The lead swelled to as many as 16 before Wingate hit a three at the buzzer. 
• Donell Nixon led all scorers with 23 points and added seven assists while teammate Vontrez Roberts had 21 points and 14 boards.
• Franklin added seven helpers for LR.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE: 

• Eigth different players scored at least eight points for LR/
• This was the fourth-best shooting performance of the year for LR as they hit 54.4 percent of their shots.
• The 56.3 percent shooting from long range was the third best mark of the year. 
• This was the second time this season LR topped 90 points, each coming in the past two weeks.

UP NEXT: The Bears are off on the final Saturday of the season as the rest of the league has games to play. The Bears are locked in as the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will play on Tuesday but the opponent will be determined based on Saturday's results along with a possible tiebreaker scenario.